✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: April 20-26
The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a list of new and upcoming films, check out our 2023 Movie Guide.
Beau is Afraid Joaquin Phoenix undertakes a journey to visit his mother in what one can best describe as a contemporary Jewish version of The Odyssey co-written by Philip Roth and Salvador Dali in Valhalla. Ari Aster’s follow-up to Midsommar and Hereditary is near the top of our 2023 must-see list for a reason. Now playing in theaters.
Showing Up Director Kelly Reichardt teams with Michelle Williams in a gently acidic comedy about the politics and pedantic nature of local art scenes that features her four-time leading lady as a sculptor on the cusp of a career-making exhibition. The cinematic heir apparent to James Agee and Dorothea Lange, Reichardt has a gift for making small movies about achingly real characters up against big issues. That makes her work always worth a trip the arthouse. Now playing at The Belcourt
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Not content resurrecting the Hollywood heist movie last month with Operation Fortune, England’s answer to Tarantino aims to do the same for the war film with this tale of an Afghan vet (Jake Gyllenhaal) going it alone to rescue his former translator (Dar Salim) after the Taliban’s takeover. Yes, it took a Brit to shed Hollywood light on what bureaucrats did to America’s legacy in Afghanistan. But we’re lucky we got a movie about it at all. Now playing in theaters.
Evil Dead Rise Sure, it’s built great buzz since its premiere at South by Southwest, and its focus on a female rock roadie protecting her nieces and nephews from their demonized mommy who’s “with the maggots now” is fresh and creepy. But, it’s not a real Evil Dead movie unless we get Bruce Campbell—even if it manages to live up to the hype. Now playing in theaters.
Chevalier Born to a slave and plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rivaled Mozart and kinda maybe rogered Marie Antoinette on the cusp of the French Revolution. As usual, the same people screeching about more diversity in Hollywood will let this top-notch historical romp die at the multiplex so they can keep crafting grandstanding TikToks. Now playing in theaters.
Somewhere in Queens Ray Romano makes his directorial debut while pulling triple duty as co-writer and star in a film about a working-class, Italian-American dad navigating his son’s sudden shot at a college basketball scholarship. Romano’s been a relatable man of the people since his sitcom days, and he couldn’t have better company than Roseanne and Lady Bird’s Laurie Metcalf. Now playing in theaters
To Catch a Killer Shailene Woodley doesn’t work enough. Ben Mendelsohn is more than a sideshow player. The last thing either needs to be in is a The Silence of the Lambs retread set in Baltimore. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred and Regal Hollywood 27
The Latest in Bolly/Tolly/Kolly/Lollywood
Virupaksha (Telugu) When a series of deaths looks like the work of the occult, a community gets its own Shailene Woodley in To Catch a Killer to uncover the truth. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (Hindi) A vigilante learns to love in a mashup of Death Wish and McConaughey rom-com that’s a “complete family entertainer.” Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.
Money Back Gurantee (Urdu) Amateur thieves rob a bank to break the cycle in a film that’s probably more profound and honest than every other gritty American indie on the year’s release calendar. Now playing at Regal Hollywood 27.